Stripped-down packing list for Latitude - can someone check I haven't forgotten something vital?

[lovecat]

I know I posted this somewhere in the 'glass of wine' thread, but as I'm going tomorrow I'm now having a panic that I have forgotten something in my attempts to be lightweight/not bury DD on the back seat with extraneous items.

Please could you lovely lot run your eye over it and make sure I've thought of everything/is there stuff here I don't need?

Would not take food to a festival normally but last year DD would not eat anything but sausage in a bun for 5 days, so am packing cereal/breakfast/sarnies ingredients.

Currently lined up on the dining table are:

Tent (with pegs, mallet, peg-extractor in bag)
Folding table
Folding cupboard
sleeping bags
SIMs
pillows
washing up bowl containing cereal, hot choc, teabags, loaf, insulated butterdish, eggs & biscuits/cake/pringles supplies
Collapsible crate (for shoes once we get there) containing:

• Trangia (itself containing 2 pans, frypan & teeny tiny kettle)
• Trangia fuel bottle
• cutlery roll
• plates, bowls, mugs, glasses
• cooking utensils
• coffee pot & coffee
• collapsible water carrier
• washing up liquid, bin bags, scourer
• fire blanket

Pop up bin 2 mini boxes containing:

• earplugs
• eyemask (I can't sleep without either)
• mini torch
• first aid kit/plasters/bite cream

coolbox containing winebag, sausages, bacon, milk, cheese, cuke, tomatoes, yogurts & ham windbreak washbag, wipes, dry shampoo cushions stuffed with clothing & 1 microtowel (DH likes to rough it en festival and DD hates showering, so it's only me that'll be braving the showers!) lanterns x 3 solar fairy lights (and the tealight chandelier that I've had for ages) :) flag & flagpole (because we're not going to be the only bell tent there, I guarantee it...) small folding box with DD's stuff (colouring, cuddlies etc) rucksack with footwear, little water bottles & DD's ear protectors in it picnic blanket lidded bucket with traveljohns inside for emergency night time weeing tickets, money....:)

garden cart to lug it from car to campsite

Now... I haven't put chairs on the list because I am in 2 minds as to what to do. We have trad. cheapo camping chairs, moonchairs and also some things called 'festival chairs' which i bought from Tesco as last year our aged backs began hurting during prolonged periods of sitting watching various cultural extravaganza. The moonchairs are out because of size, but do you think I should take the festival chairs and the normal chairs? The festival chairs are v. low down on the ground, so prob not good for sitting around drinking wine at night...

Also, I was thinking, if we have room, of taking the pop-up gazebo along simply to create some space in front/next to the tent and parking the table/cooking stuff in there. My sister & family are also coming with their humungous tunnel tent, so the idea was to create a little enclave that hopefully won't end up with some bugger parking his tent in the middle of it overnight... Or is this a rubbish idea/doomed to failure?

And if you made it to the end of that, have a meths on me! :o

As a veteran of 5 Green Man Festivals, all but one with 3 days solid rain in the Brecon Beacons, I say TAKE THE GAZEBO (and a TARP and GAFFA TAPE). Also WHISKY. I also take a dummy tent (pop up job) to buy us a bit more space/privacy/keep room for mates arriving later/ and for kids to play in hence keeping own tent free from carpet of lego.

It's great to see everyone's lists as I will be camping with the DC's the week after next. So all very helpful.
I think, especially when going to a festival you have to balance carrying it all there with the extra comfort gained. Sometimes the lugging it to site can be awful - I think the cart is your best idea. The little lights sound sweet though !
So my approach would be to do without chairs and tables, though I can see they do create a centre point and an illusion of civilisation !
I often forget a decent torch, which can be nearly fatal !
Personally am worried about putting up complicated tent (with just me and DC's, though there may be friendly people around who might help us. - But perhaps best to have a mini-camp in the garden before we go. )
Also nervous about using a camping stove. I've used them/ seen them used many times, but they always make me nervous !
Would you all take air-beds or just camping rolls ?

• I remember an air-bed was a night-mare when I was BFing DD - at her first festival - WOMAD

lovecat your beautiful tent will be an attraction in its own right !

so true about DH packing a T shirt and pair of pants at 9pm the night before and then saying "well I'm packed what about you?" we have that here too!

Enjoy, stay dry, have fun

Never been Festivaling and have only slept in a tent once, however am enjoying this thread. But there seems to be a common theme where one of the most important things is keeping "others" away. I thought that half the vibe of festivals and camping was to meet and live (albeit temporarily) with "others".

well "others" are lovely

except when they use your little camp as a thoroughfare
or wee up the side of your tent
or you wake up and find a weeny little tent with a pair of overamorous teens (who have inadvertently stumbled into the family camping) pitched directly in front of the only exit route from your tent

Add BIOHAZARD TAPE to your list

LOL merylstrop - we once had a man camp in about a foot of space in between mine and my sister's tent at glastonbury. we literally got out of our tent via his. so I say to all of you - it is important to protect your doorspace!
also consider glowsticks for guyropes to stop trippers late at night wwrecking your tent.

i am going to the just so festival this year so am hoping people will have a debrief on here about what was good and what wasn't.
And OP, i say take the food - it's important to have something to eat at breakfast and while you are drinking wine (not always the same time [hgrin])

you have TO LEAVE LED FAIRY LIGHTS ON THE LIST!

WHERE IS YOUR WINEBOX??

Bin bags and gaffer tape - you can make all sorts of waterproofs with these two things.

by the way, glowsticks are 10 for £4.99 at lakeland - essential IMO. And save tyou being pestered to death to spend £2 each for the bloody things at the festie.

Trangia as the op says it's a stove, very clever light weight gadget the packs into it's own pans and runs on meths. Low and stable much nicer to use than many single ring gas stoves and very neat to pack

Buy all food when you get there thus no need to bring food/drink/utensils/washing up stuff or presumably the fire blanket?!!

Ooh, I might get one of those trangia's if it wouldn't break the bank. The gas canisters scare me a bit, especially with the DC's around < scaredy cat >

Am packing bugger all as am not in the country but AM V V V JEALOUS!

Enjoy :)

at Sal, after ds fell and cut himself last year on a chunk of green glass from a gin bottle

We're back. Was very good, but here's my rain/mud/long walk to carpark/arenas hindsight list, (not very pared down, but would do for us again).

4 big blue IKEA bags for carriage and stashing
Tent
Windbreak (as doorway protector)
Hairy Plastic doormat (ditto and mud-guard extraordinaire)
Small Solar light on spike (night-time marker)
Sleeping bags + Fleece liners
Blankets
Air mattresses, pumps + foam rolls, (we don't have SIMS yet)
Hang-up lantern for inside tent
Earplugs + sleep mask

Small bag of toiletries each (airline style to carry in evening)
Back up drawstring bag with first aid, micro towels and once a day toiletries
Kitchen roll
Baby wipes

Big water bottle (2 litre fine)
6 pack of little waters
6 pack of little juices
Mugs
Pack of paper plates or bowls
Sporks!
Big bag of durable fruit
Pack of pitta bread
Penknife
All above packed in coolbag

Picnic blanket, waterproof backing
Dad stools - vital in rain/post rain, politely deployed
Waterproofs
Hats
1 umbrella
A waterproof day bag each
Wellies + one other pair of shoes for car
Torch
PJs
Hoodie tracksuit for morning toliet block run
3 outfits for 5 days with mix/match/layering potential, incl. a fleece each

Small pound shop pack of glowsticks
Bubbles, sticker book and 1 teddy

Taken but redundant:
Tealights/candles
Stove
All Catering equipment except mugs and paper plates
Washing up stuff
Water carrier
Chairs
Table
Food supplies
Festival Food was excellent this year and DD ate/shared all, budget of roughly £15 per meal for 3 of us to keep us close to the action
Trolley - way too muddy to be any use at pack up time

Coulda/woulda
Child's pop-up tent (territory marker and place to play, nerve-shredder preventer) and a place to bung bags while putting up/down family tent in rain shower
An old towel for rain-mopping in tent porch

that is super helpful
we are going to Deer Shed next weekend and want to travel light but Be Prepared
how was the weather at Latitude? and did you have a fab time anyway? see good stuff?

Oh and dustpan and brush was handy
suntan cream was used on the Friday.

Was lurking and leeching off the good ideas on this thread before we went!

Had a brilliant time. It was our first overnighting festival with DD.

Weather was a bit crappy tbh, some heavy downpours and intermittent showers, but not too cold fortunately. So did a bit less milling around than planned. Friday was very nice and sunny though.

We plonked ourselves in the indoor tents for the very heavy rain and caught some great things, especially the performance poetry. Music wise, loved Edwyn Collins and Scala. Adam Ant was on surprisingly excellent form.

We've just come back from Latitude too, I was directing a show there so we arrived Thursday morning and left after the headliners finished last night, getting home at 3am. We had the MAJOR benefit of my parents hiring a campervan in the normal people campsite (we were in performers) which sheltered us from the rain on Saturday and Sunday for 2 hours while DS (2.5) napped.

I'm also 5 months pregnant

Our ultimate tip is a big bubble maker and a giant glowing stick/wand - both kept DS entertained for 5 hours plus so we could watch the outdoor theatre and music well into the night, utterly brilliant.

This is our list:

4 man tent
Double blow up bed, 2 pillows, double sleeping bag for us
Blow up ready bed and sleeping bag for DS
blankets for us and DS
2 towells

Torches
Phones and chargers
camera
Nappies and baby wipes
facial wipes
suncream (was actually needed on Friday!)
moisturiser
dry-hair shampoo
hairbrush
sudocream
savlon
baby nurofen and adult paracetemol
plasters
toilet paper

Clothes and waterproofs for us

Clothes for DS:
2 pairs of trousers
3 t-shirts
1 jumper
wellies
socks
all in one waterproof (invaluable!)
dummies

wrap sling
backpack to carry stuff around during the day
waterproof picnic mat
loads of plastic bags

snack type food (we bought proper food):
jacobs cream crackers
mini cheddars
breakfast bars
boxes of raisins
tons of apples
clementinesthose squeezy fruit things for toddlers
toddler crisps
water
ribena cartons

That was it.....we camped with others who had a stove so we got the obligatory cup of tea in the morning and gratefully had one meal cooked for us by my mum in her campervan, I also got meal vouchers due to being a performer and being pregnant wasn't drinking so we spent £100 on food and drink over the whole weekend too, considering we didn't have to spend money on tickets that was doable. Glad we didn't take the buggy in the end, it got ridiculously muddy and the sling was enough and packed small into our day rucksack

I'd take more blankets, to put under our sleeping bag - it got REALLY cold at night. This was our first camping trip as a family, I've done festivals before but the priorities were beer and weed, didn't even take up blow up beds before!

Final tip - we had a bag with a dry, clean change of clothes in the car for the journey home. Honestly didn't see the point in taking tons of clothes, but it was good to be comfortable getting home!

see you at deershed, Meryl...

Another Deershedder here! squeeeeeee

lovecat, your grumpy problems are par for the course

"1) I came on a week early this morning"

Last camping trip, no toilets on site, just our little Kampa Khazi, DD1 and I both came on the afternoon we got there and within 2 hours or each other. I wasn't even bloody due! Is there something about our bodies that thinks "ooh yes, we're going to a place with zero toilet facilities and only anti bac to wipe our hands in - this is a great time!"

"2) DH has done precisely diddly-squat to get ready for tomorrow while I have been out directing tonight"

We are going camping next week and DH is on his last two days off before we go. His camping preparations consist of sitting in front of Sky+ for 18 hours a day recording episodes of CSI onto DVD to take with him.

Sorry, no use with the list, I cannot camp light (though I might ditch the coffee maker ).

Have realised you will be back by now

Hope it was good!

deershed was fab, wasn't it?
So funny and middle clarse and festival-lite. But safe and friendly and well-organised.